Saturday, May 31, 2014

Friday, May 30, 2014

Thursday, May 29, 2014

I must do some bragging ~ Not only is it Casey and Amanda's 4th Wedding Anniversary, but this morning he flew his first SOLO cross country ~ 128 nautical miles from Mount Pleasant, SC, landing in Orangeburg and departing back to Mount Pleasant. I am so proud ~ he is fulfilling a long time dream.

Not positive, but I believe this is 1951. The movie, Alice in Wonderland, was premiering at the PALACE THEATREinCanton, Ohio. My sister, Patty, won a contest that made her Alice in Wonderland for the day. I was only 3, so I didn't understand the excitement of her being carried around downtown Canton that day. It had to be a thrilling experience. If you look closely behind Patty's crown, you can see Mom in a big hat with a smile to match. I know she had to be SO proud.

For all my Kopka cousins, I see your Mom is in the photo, too. Aunt Beulah was the BEST!! Patrick and I talked of her a lot.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Thursday, May 22, 2014

My fifteen minutes of fame!! I was active in the Canton Players Guild when I was young. This is a scene from HANSEL AND GRETEL (1961). I played the part of Gretel ~ Hansel was played by Jim Taggart. I remember this being a very exciting time in my life.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Thursday, May 15, 2014

This Throwback Thursday goes back to July 29, 1954. I was 6. Patrick was 11. He loved to fish. Mom would take him down to the park to fish occasionally. He would also fish with our Uncle Steve and Aunt Fran and sometimes with his friends. So, I have no idea where he caught this fish or who he was with. I just see that I was honored to hold his fishing pole while he showed off his prize!!!!

Monday, May 12, 2014

Sunday, May 11, 2014

On this first Mother's Day without you, I am trying to not be sad. You graced this earth for 96 years and I was blessed to have you by my side for 65 of them. You deserve to be at rest now. In my heart I know that I will be with you again one day. Thank you for your constant love, Mom. You were beautiful and you were amazing.

As I look up toward Heaven today, I know you can hear me say... Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

My sister Patricia, Sister Mary Audrey, Me (3 years old), Patrick, and Mom. The background looks like the side entrance to Central Catholic High School. Not sure why we would have been there at that time other than to visit Sister. The three of us graduated from Central, so dear Mom spent a total of 12 years worrying until we were safe at home. The school was far from where we lived. We had to take 2 buses each way every day.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

44 years ago today, we were in shock ~ unrest and turmoil led to the death of 4 students.

I was there, working in the Alumni Relations Office, which was in the building behind the jeeps in the top right hand corner of this photo. Minutes before the shooting, I was standing on the edge of the commons looking at the unbelievable scene before me. Little did I know what was about to take place.

I wasn't at my desk long before we were notified about the shooting. The office doors were then locked and we were not to leave. There were rumors of snipers on roofs and mass confusion. About an hour or two later, we were told that we could leave at our own risk.

I was living in a house directly across the street from the campus. I ran and didn't stop till I was in the door of that house. I lived with 9 other girls there (it was a 3-story old house that still houses students to this day) and we were all packing ~ we just wanted to get out of Kent. The streets coming into the city were all closed ~ no cars could get in to pick anyone up ~ so we had to find ways to get out of town. I remember many details from that day, the week before, and the weeks after, but I will leave that for another time.

Today, along with many, I am remembering the events of that day. I am saying a prayer for those who lost their lives, as I do every year on this anniversary.

We were all so young. It was a frightening day. A sad day. A day that I will never forget.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

This THROWBACK THURSDAY takes me back to April 1952 ~ time spent with my Grandpa, Andrew Kopka. It looks like we were enjoying some back porch time on a cool Spring day. We must have been discussing that rabbit that seems to have made it into another photo. I was 4 ~ I wonder what profound things I had to say. Grandpa is laughing, so I would guess there was more humor involved than anything else.

Where did the years go? It doesn't seem that long ago that we celebrated your marriage in a special church in the city where we grew up. The garden scene where we enjoyed your reception was a perfect setting amid the colorful flowers and the shade of the trees.

Like all marriages, there have been bumps in the road. But, it was smooth sailing for the most part and your love produced three beautiful children. Now, your hearts are full with the joy that grandchildren provide.

How wonderful that you have spent all these years together, building a family, making friends, enjoying life.

Congratulations and Happy Anniversary! May this day, once again, be special for you.

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"PAINT WHAT YOUR EYE CAN SEE AND GIVE IT A SOUL, YOUR SOUL, AND LET NOT THE ONLOOKERS MAKE JUDGEMENT ..... FILL YOUR MIND WITH THE WIND AND THE AIR AND COLORS OF EVERYTHING KNOWN TO MAN AND ANIMAL ALIKE."~Fabriozi 1471 - 1502 artist

BLESSED

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."

Patrick

The Cancer Candle reminding us to pray for those who need healing.

"THERE IS A CRACK IN EVERYTHING.THAT'S HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN."~Leonard Cohen

"Poets and painters are outside the class system, or rather they constitute a special class of their own, like the circus people and the gypsies."~Gerald Brenan1894-1987author, historian

"TIME IS THE COIN OF YOUR LIFE. IT IS THE ONLY COIN YOU HAVE, AND ONLY YOU CAN DETERMINE HOW IT WILL BE SPENT. BE CAREFUL LEST YOU LET OTHER PEOPLE SPEND IT FOR YOU."~Carl Sandburg 1878 - 1967 writer, poet

Two shall be born a whole wide world apart and one day out of darkness they shall stand and read life's meaning in each other's eyes.

"THE MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION YOU CAN OWN IS AN OPEN HEART. THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON YOU CAN BE IS AN INSTRUMENT OF PEACE." ~Carlos Santana

"NO LOVE, NO FRIENDSHIP CAN CROSS THE PATH OF OUR DESTINY WITHOUT LEAVING SOME MARK ON IT FOREVER."~Francois Mauriac

1885 - 1970

french author

... and he called me "artsy-craftsy"~ how foolish of me to think he understood my passion

Felted Heart by Anne

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ACEO Group Member since 2005

Art Cards, Editions and Originals

2011 ACEO Deck of Cards

2009 Double Deck of Cards

ACEO Double Deck ~ 2009

First Edition Deck ~ 2008

ACEO Deck of Cards ~ 2008

I AM A "SEARCHER"

"I am one of the searchers. There are, I believe, millions of us. We are not unhappy, but neither are we really content. We continue to explore life, hoping to uncover its ultimate secret. We continue to explore ourselves, hoping to understand. We like to walk along the beach, we are drawn by the ocean, taken by its power, its unceasing motion, its mystery and unspeakable beauty. We like forests and mountains, deserts and hidden rivers, and the lonely cities as well. Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as is our laughter. To share our sadness with one we love is perhaps as great a joy as we can know - unless it be to share our laughter. We searchers are ambitious only for life itself, for everything beautiful it can provide. Most of all we love and want to be loved. We want to live in a relationship that will not impede our wandering, nor prevent our search, nor lock us in prison walls; that will take us for what little we have to give. We do not want to prove ourselves to another or compete for love.

For wanderers, dreamers, and lovers, for lonely men and women who dare to ask of life everything good and beautiful. It is for those who are too gentle to live among wolves."

~ James Kavanaugh

I am THE LOVERS Tarot Card

Motive, power, and action, arising from Inspiration and Impulse. THE LOVERS represents intuition and inspiration. Very often a choice needs to be made. Originally, this card was just called LOVE. And that's acually more apt than "LOVERS." Love follows in this sequence of growth and maturity. And, coming after the Emperor, who is about control, it is a radical change in perspective. LOVE is a force that makes you choose and decide for reasons you often can't understand; it makes you surrender control to a higher power. And that is what this card is all about. Finding something or someone who is so much a part of yourself, so perfectly attuned to you and you to them, that you cannot, dare not resist. This card indicates that you have or will come across a person, a career, challenge, or thing that you will fall in love with. You will know instinctively that you must have this, even if it means diverging from your chosen path. No matter the difficulties, without it you will never be complete.